Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1887-08-18

and as the excyrsion train came laundering,
down on it what was the horror Of the en-
gIneer on the front engine when he saw that
this bridge was anrel Right up before his
eyes leaped the bright flames. and the next
instant he was among them. There was
NO CHANCE TO STOP.
Had there been warning, It would have
taken half a mile to stop that onrushing
mass Of wood, iron aud humanity, and the
train was within one hundred yards Of the
red~-tongued messengers of death before
they flashed their fatal signals into the en-
gineer's face. But he passed over in safety.
the first engine keeping the rails AS it
went over the bridge fell beneath IT. and 1t
could orly have been the terrific speed of
the train which saved the lives OF the en-
gineer and his fireman But the next en-
CINE went down, and instantly the deed Of
death was done. Car crashed into car;
coaches piled one on top Of the other, and in
the twinkling of an eye nearly one hundred
people found instant death and fifty more
were so hurt they ooul not live. AS for the
wounded. they were everywhere. Only the
sleeping coaches escaped. and as the startled
and half-dressed passengers came tumbling
out of them they found uch a scene of
death as is rarely witnessed, and such work
to do that it seemed as if human hands we've
utterly incapable. II lacked but five min
ates of midnight Down in the ditch lay the
second engineer. McClintock, dead, and fire.
man, Apologize, badly injured On top were
piled the three baggage cars, one on top of
another, like a child's toy block house after
he had swept it with his hand Then came
the six day coaches They were telescoped
as cars never were before, and three of them
were pressed into just space enough for one.
The second car had mounted off its tracks,
crashed through the car ahead of it, and lay
there resting on the top of the seats, while
every passenger in the front car was LAYING
dead or dying underneath Out of that car
but four people
GAME OUT ALIVE.
On top of the second car lay the third, and
although the latter did not cover its bearer
as completely as the one beneath, its bottom
was smeared with the blood of its victims
The other cars were not so badly crushed,
but they were broken and twisted in every
conceivable way. and every crushed timber
and beam represented a crushed human
framea and a broken bune. Instantly the AR
was filed with the cries of the rounded
and the shrieks of those about to die. The
groans of men, the screams Of women
united to make an appalling sound,
and above all could be heard the agonlzing
cries of little children, as in some instances
they lay pinned alongside their parents
And there WIS another terrible danger to be
met The bridge was still burning and the
wrecked. cars We're laying on and around
the fercely burning embers Everywhere
in the wreck were wounded and unhurt
men, women and children, whose lives
could be saved If they could be
gotten out, but whose death and
Death in a most terrible form was certain il
the twisted wood of the broken cars caught
fire. And to fight the fire there was not a
drop Of water, and oniy some fifty able
bodied men who had still presence of mind
and nerve enough to do their duty. The
only light was the light of the burning
bridge. For -four hours they fought like
iends, and for four hours the victory hung
in the balance. Earth was the only weapon
with which the fire could be fought, and so
the attempt was made TO smother it out
There was no pick or shovel to dig it up; no
baskets or barrows TO carry IL in, and so,
desperate, they dug their fingers down into
the earth, which a long drouth had baked
almost as hard as stone, and heaped the
precious handsful thus hardly won upon the
encroaching flames, and with this earthwork,
built handful by handful
KKPT BACK THE FOE.
While this was going on, brave men crept
underneath the wrecked cars beneath the
fire and the wooden bars which held prison
ers so manv precious lives, and with pieces
Of board, and sometimes their hands, beat
back the flames when they flashed up along
side some unfortunate wretch who, pinned
down by a heavy beam, looked on helplessly
while it seemed as if his death by fire was
certain; and while the fight was thus going
| on. the ears Of the workers were filed with
/ fhn urnona. ~ lxf,.. 49, Nha n,..,f@h,l - /
treaties Of those whose death seemed certain
unless the terrible blaze could be extin-
guished, ana the cries of those too badly
hurt to care in what manner the end were
brought about, so only it would be quick. SO
they dug up the earth with their hands, reck-
less of the blood streaming out from broken
finger nails, and heaped il upon little mounds,
while all the while came the heartrending
cry. SFor Gods sake don't let us burn to
death" But finally victory was won, the FIRE
was put out after four hours of endeavor,
and as its last spark died away a lis ht came
up in the east to take their place, And dawn
came upon a scene of horror. While the fight
had been going on mel mad been dying, and
there were not so many ounde to take out
| Of the wreck as there had been four hours be-
fore. But IN the meantime the country had
been aroused; help had come from Chats
| HOILu, TOfceS 1uu ripper Olbl, anu as INC /
dead were laid reverenly alongside of each
otnor, out In the corn field, there were ready
bands 10 take them into Chatswerth, while
some OF the wounded were carried to Piper
City. One hundre ana eighteen was the
POLL OF THE DEAD,
while the wounded number four times as
many. The full tale Of the dead cannot,
however, be ted yet for days C~hatsworth
was turned into a morgue to-day. The town
hall, the engine house. the depot were all
full o. dead bodies, while every house in the
little village had its quota of the wounded
There We're over 100 corpses lying in the
e-xtemporized dead houses, and every man
or woman was turned into an amatuer but
jealous nurse. Over in a lumber yard the
poise of hammers and saws rang out in the
air and in it busy carpenters were making
rough collins TO carry to their homes the
dead bodies of the excursionists who. twelve
hours previous, had left their homes full OF
pleasurable expectations of the enjoyment
they were gong to have during the vacation
which had begun. When the news of the
disaster was first flashed over the wires,
prompt aid was at once sent DR.. Steele, |
chief surgeon of the Toledo, Peoria 4 West
ern road, had come on at once in a special
train, and with him were two other surgeons
and their assistants. From Peoria also came
Doctors Martin, Baker, Flagloere and john
son, and from every city whence the
unfortunate excursionists had come from
their physicians and friends hurried on to
help them From Peoria had also came del /
egations of the Redmen and the Ancient
Order of United Workmen, a number of both
societies being on the Ill -fated train, and so
after 8 o'clock In the morning there were
plenty of people to do the work that needed
such prompt attention. In the town hall
was the main hospital, and in it anxious rel
atives and sorrowlng friends sat and, fan
ming gently the sufferers faces, queried the
attending surgeons as they bound up the
wounds, and insisted that there must be
hope. Down in
THE DEAD HOUSES,
fathers, husbands, brothers, sisters, wives
and children tearfully inspected each face as !
it was uncovered, and sighed as the features
were unknown, or cried out in.anguish when
the well remembered face, sometimes fear
fully mangled but yet recognizable, was un-
covered The entire capacity Of the little
| village was taxed, and kind hearted women
drove In from miles to give thsir gentle min
istrations to the sufferers No sooner had
the wreck occurred than a scene of robbery
began. A band of miscreants, heartless
and with only criminal instincts was on
hand, and like the guerrillas who throng a
battle field the night after a conflict and
fitch from the dead the money which they